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Imagine that

Children are born bursting to use their imagination – parents are the great enablers. Mums and dads provide the key to unlocking a vivid and wonderful world of make-believe and fantasy. And as children develop, their power of imagination to pretend to be a superhero, a jungle animal or a 'mummy', along with a raft of other essential life skills, are also being learned.

Psychologists have been studying the benefits of imaginative play for decades and they’re in resounding agreement that the outcomes are all good.

Imaginative play not only sparks a littlie’s creative streak, research has conclusively linked it with helping children develop all sorts of cognitive skills including the ability to self-regulate their moods and behaviour as well as social skills like conflict resolution and being able to cooperate with others.

Imaginative and pretend play has also been found to really boost language and speech skills. And one of the major life skills tots learn through creating imaginary situations is problem solving.

As US research concluded: “When young children use their imaginations in play, they are more creative, perform better at school tasks and develop a problem-solving approach to learning. Educating a child’s imagination is therefore an important way to prepare children for the future.”

Enter stage left: Mum and Dad

Sonja Walker*, director at Kids First Children's Services, says the benefits of imaginative and creative play cannot be over-emphasised, nor can the pivotal role parents play in this.

“Encouraging them to enter their own world of make-believe is so good for children,” she says. “It’s parents who can help open up these fantasy worlds for children. We are exposing the world and all its possibilities to them. We are their role models - when they’re young they’re seeing the world we show to them.”

Research has found that by the time they’re two, children are fully engaged in an imaginative world. It’s around this time that they may start pretending to speak to Daddy on the phone, or be putting their 'babies' (teddies and dollies) to bed. By three and four their pretend games will be starting to last longer, have more complicated plots and involve a bigger use of language to back up their actions.

The role mums and dads play in all this is giving children the mind-space to be able to indulge their imaginations – and if possible access to a few simple props, says Sonja. Giving children the chance to fire up their imaginations also requires turning off the screens for a while, she adds.

“Children don’t have to use their imaginations as much if it’s all in front of them on a screen. While TV and computers can be educational, kids are more likely to engage in pretend play or creative activities if they don’t have screens on around them,” she says.

Your child’s imagination toolbox

On of the most famous inventors of all time, Thomas Edison, once said: “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” So here are some suggested props to help kids boost their imaginations and develop a creative streak.

Books – read to them every day. There is no bigger imagination builder that storytelling.

Dress ups – don’t forget accessories like scarves, gloves and hats

A busy box of bits and pieces – like shells, wood, stones, scraps of fabric

Building blocks – these have endless possibilities

Modelling clays – like Play-Doh and some accessories like cutters and a rolling pin

A sand pit – there’s now “indoor sand” that can be moulded and played with inside but doesn’t ruin the carpet